Lost at sea for decades – this set collects the first two Technicolor® seasons of Popeye’s animated theatrical shorts (1943-44 and 1944-45), making them available for the first time ever on home video: complete, intact and outrageously funny. What else would you expect from a two-fisted, spinach-munching sailor man?

The 1940s brought new sights and sounds to America’s favorite cartoon star. Regulars Olive Oyl and Bluto return, while Popeye resumes his riotous relationship with his shipmate Shorty and his naughty nephews Pipeye, Poopeye, Peepeye and Pupeye. With the addition of full color, cartoonists were now free to let loose with journeys to exotic lands and give Popeye a fresh stock of new friends and foes.

But it’s the eternal love triangle, Popeye and Bluto competing for the attention of Olive, that drives the majority of these zany situations – as well as the hilarious action-packed gags. Whether our heroes are posing as circus acrobats or puppeteers or even taking turns at being Superman, these gems from the Golden Age of Hollywood will blow you down with laughter.

Collection includes Her Honor, The Mare; The Marry-Go-Round; We’re On Our Way To Rio; The Anvil Chorus Girl; Spinach Packin’ Popeye; Puppet Love; Pitchin’ Woo At The Zoo; Moving Aweigh; She-Sick Sailors; Pop-Pie A La Mode; Tops In The Big Top; Shape Ahoy; For Better Or Nurse; Mess Production. Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s
Volume 1 is intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children. Also available on DVD!

136 Comments

Christmas Miracle , Drooling at the prospect, that more will follow, Famous Studios output , would be nice to see the Fleischer's get the same treatment, if WAC want to really up the prospects how about this gem?

Here we go again. To all of you who wish and hope the vaults of Warner Bros. could reopen to allow more of the classic cartoon treasures to emerge – Now is your time. Here’s what you can do to help (Take Two).

Last year I used whatever super powers I had to make a set of black and white Porky Pig cartoons available in an effort to convince to the studio there was an audience out there for such compilations. After several bumps in the road the set eventually broke even. But “brake even” isn’t good enough for a mega corporation. Long story short – we have one more shot. One. This is it. Perhaps a set of color cartoons, films the collectors do not have, or never had on home video (no VHS, no previous DVD or cable broadcast). A small set – 14 cartoons perhaps.

Here it is – a continuation of the Paramount Popeye cartoons. The next 14. No frills, no bonus materials, no audio commentaries. Transferred from the original Technicolor negatives. Jim Tyer animation. Politically incorrect shorts, uncut. The set will be available, separately, on both DVD and blu-ray.

The website to pre-order is supposedly going up today and we will update this post with the link when we get it. I highly recommend this set – I think you will be pleased. The frame grabs below were snapped off my living room flat screen by my iPhone, off the blu-ray. If this looks good to you – I ask that you pre-order, or order it in December. Let’s prove to Warner Bros. that we want further volumes of Popeye 1940s and 1950s – and we want more Warner and MGM cartoons restored and released. It’s seriously up to you.

if you are serious about animation then this needs to be supported, by sales

These shorts are a big step down from the Fleischer era Popeyes. That said its nice to have 'em fully restored considering how awful the aap prints they used to run on TNT and Cartoon Network used to look.

Going to pre-order this, just as I did with Porky 101. These aren't the greatest of the greatest, but I find the 40s Famous Popeyes to be a lot of fun. Seeing them in proper quality will be a big plus because they never looked good on TV.

Man, I hear what Jerry is saying, but I don't know what else I can do. I buy all this animation stuff religiously, but physical disc sales do nothing but decline and the community of classic animation fans is apparently quite small. I guess I could buy two copies, but I see little I can do to get other people to value and buy this classic material when they are A) cheap, and B) satisfied with the kind of abject garbage that gets broadcast nowadays, animated or otherwise.

Whether you like animation or not I think DVDs and Blu-rays have always been the best value in entertainment pretty much ever, and continue to provide the purchaser some autonomy over their content instead of laying back fat and happy on the couch to be spoon fed whatever crap the streaming services decide you can or can't see this month. It's to be expected I guess, but it's to all of our detriment as disc sales lose momentum and critical mass in the market because of this complacency. But I digress.

Also, for those of us who do buy a LOT of animation these sort of back channel warnings from those "in the know" sound awfully accusatory sometimes. WTH else was I supposed to do? I probably bought almost every classic animated DVD release WB ever put out, many of them quite flawed. I get rewarded with abandoned incomplete series and fairly obvious stuff that never gets released at all. I know, I know, I'm not the target and there is an effort to goose sales however they can, it's important, but it's just a perennial thing with classic animation and I get tired of hearing it.

Sorry to be a downer, I do hope this sells well and there are more to come. I grew up on these color Popeye cartoons from Famous Studios and would love to see them all released. But ultimately if Warner Archive can't make it work then I wish they would at least try to license this kind of stuff out to independent shops like Criterion and Olive, who do seem to still be able to make physical media work.

This thread brought me to the astonishing realization that I've had the first three DVD sets for 10 years and more. I've gone back to those discs and laughed at so many "gags" that as an eight-year-old, I never noticed. Although the Fleischer animations are considered superior to the later Paramount productions, I look forward to this Blu-ray.

I'm super excited about this coming out. However I completely disagree with the studio's perspective per Jerry Beck. Properly managing assets, profit or not, is their responsibility. It's no different than keeping the soundstages in working order. It's they who should consider themselves lucky Porky didn't incur a loss.

I'm not sure what they were expecting Porky 101 to do and why. It was an almost $60 dollar, DVD only set of black-and-white cartoons, dumped out with no promotion. It was too expensive for casual buyers, collectors prefer Blu-Ray, and cartoon diehards were upset about the QC problems.It gives the impression that animation is held to impossible standards live-action movies aren't.

Anecdotally, I'm seeing more buzz for Popeye than I did for Porky, and the better presentation has been noted.

The Blu-ray is now available to pre-order from Amazon.com, however it seems that orders via WB Shop might be preferable. This is a comment from Jerry Beck (available here) in reply to the question of whether it would be better to order from Warner Archive / WB Shop:

Jerry Beck

Yes, it’s preferable (for the cause) to order through Warner Archive (through WBshop.com). In fact, I’m not sure it will be available via Amazon at first.

This comment was made on the 20th, and obviously, Jerry was largely incorrect about the disc not being available from Amazon. However, this disc could be a special case, so perhaps it would be better to skip Amazon and go to WB Shop in this instance.

While the Fleischer era is the gold standard for me when it comes to Popeye, I do look forward to finally seeing more Popeye disc releases. Too bad this is only a single disc.

I started to write a paragraph in response to Beck's off-putting "It’s seriously up to you" rant directed at people who are likely already planning to purchase the product. But Matt and Ken have already made good points about it in their posts. I will say that going forward I could live with fewer Beck commentaries, especially if it lowers the price of a disc by even a few nickels. So I won't be disappointed by the lack of his commentary on this release.

Hopefully any future volumes will have more than a single disc. Also, I hope this ultimately paves the way to finally getting Volume 2 of the 60s Popeye TV shorts.

The Blu-ray is now available to pre-order from Amazon.com, however it seems that orders via WB Shop might be preferable. This is a comment from Jerry Beck (available here) in reply to the question of whether it would be better to order from Warner Archive / WB Shop:

This comment was made on the 20th, and obviously, Jerry was largely incorrect about the disc not being available from Amazon. However, this disc could be a special case, so perhaps it would be better to skip Amazon and go to WB Shop in this instance.

While the Fleischer era is the gold standard for me when it comes to Popeye, I do look forward to finally seeing more Popeye disc releases. Too bad this is only a single disc.

I started to write a paragraph in response to Beck's off-putting "It’s seriously up to you" rant directed at people who are likely already planning to purchase the product. But Matt and Ken have already made good points about it in their posts. I will say that going forward I could live with fewer Beck commentaries, especially if it lowers the price of a disc by even a few nickels. So I won't be disappointed by the lack of his commentary on this release.

Hopefully any future volumes will have more than a single disc. Also, I hope this ultimately paves the way to finally getting Volume 2 of the 60s Popeye TV shorts.

The thing is, ALL classic material on Blu-Ray is in a precarious position, dependent on sales of what gets put out. It's not unique to cartoons. On this very forum, you have people buying The Sea Hawk and hoping it sells well enough to encourage the release of other movies starring Errol Flynn and other leading men.

Popeye selling well will not only help the release of more classic cartoons, but really anything vintage that's not in a surefire selling genre like horror.

I'm not sure what they were expecting Porky 101 to do and why. It was an almost $60 dollar, DVD only set of black-and-white cartoons, dumped out with no promotion. It was too expensive for casual buyers, collectors prefer Blu-Ray, and cartoon diehards were upset about the QC problems.It gives the impression that animation is held to impossible standards live-action movies aren't.

Anecdotally, I'm seeing more buzz for Popeye than I did for Porky, and the better presentation has been noted.

It doesn't help that the B&W Porkys range from "That's rough but still a classic" to "oh dear god this is awful" like the bulk of pre-1944 Warner Bros. shorts (and virtually the entirety of pre-Wild Hare ones).

The second year covered by this collection, 1944, was also the first year the opening title theme – the one we were used to hearing under the a.a.p. Popeye title (as used on the color shorts reissued in 1956) on TV for years – was used under the opening Paramount logo (the same went for the closing theme).

The exact cartoon that was the first to use the version of the theme was "We're On Our Way to Rio."

Actually, the opening music for "Rio" was completely unique to that cartoon. Same case with "Tops in the Big Tops".

Lord Dalek

It doesn't help that the B&W Porkys range from "That's rough but still a classic" to "oh dear god this is awful" like the bulk of pre-1944 Warner Bros. shorts (and virtually the entirety of pre-Wild Hare ones).

Wow, that's a sizable chunk of classic animation, and much of the work of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Frank Tashlin, being dismissed. I dearly love the Porkys, which is why it was tragic that release's quality control ranged from "well, that's unfortunate but to be expected" to "they're either smoking crack or hate these films." Fortunately, that level of indifference/contempt seems to be a one-off misfortune.

Are these the shorts that were shown on local TV during the 70s or was the bulk of those cartoons from a later decade?

The Famous cartoons were from 1942-57 and were indeed syndicated and ran constantly on TV (in compromised shape, alas). This is the first two color years, and far and away the best. The Popeye cartoons through 1947 are mostly great, and the ones through 1950 mostly good. They get increasingly taxing after.

Weirdly, Lone Stranger and Porky was included with it's correct soundtrack, albeit computer colorized, as a bonus as some live-action DVD. They had access to a DVD-ready copy of the correct audio, but to quote Mystery Science Theater 3000: "They just didn't care."

I'd like to see the B/W Porky's revisited. This Popeye disc could be a good template: mix 'em up with on single-disc sets with new-to-video/hiterherto unrestored Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Road Runner and Foghorn Leghorn shorts.

I started to write a paragraph in response to Beck's off-putting "It’s seriously up to you" rant directed at people who are likely already planning to purchase the product. But Matt and Ken have already made good points about it in their posts. I will say that going forward I could live with fewer Beck commentaries, especially if it lowers the price of a disc by even a few nickels. So I won't be disappointed by the lack of his commentary on this release.

I didn't see that as a rant. That's just how it is.

Personally I enjoyed many of the commentaries on previous releases, Beck's included. I felt it was added value, put things in context, and I don't believe it was responsible for inflated prices.

I have ordered this set from DD at their Black Friday 15% off sale. It was not listed there a couple of days ago. However, the Mickey Mouse 90th Blu Ray was not listed and seemed to be a half price Prime deal at Amazon. I had been wondering when Disney might issue Blu Rays of those Mickey Mouse Laserdiscs sets. I have Set 1 of those.

i also glad to see Porky 101 DVD set, but when I started to view this I noticed very many mistakes which they havent restored and havent fixed, so I dont see any point to buy the produc which is decided to be released with such a huge bad things. WB could do best, but they didnt.. I still dont know why(((

I for one loved the Porky set. I am also happy I am not expert enough in these things to be bothered by the problems sited here. Again, instead of watching the content, people are watching the celluloid.

The soundtrack is part of the content. I'm glad people still liked that set, but I'm gladder if the studio ultimately cares more about an accurate presentation, which is ostensibly the case with Popeye.

When the Famous Studios output was sold to television, it was only available in NTA pink washed out prints (except for Popeye). It would be awesome to see Little Lulu and Little Audrey remastered and restored with original titles.

This is definitely a more optimistic sign. Full restoration and continuing where the DVDs left off….10 years ago!!

What's more shocking is that "Popeye a-la-Mode" was included. Tom & Jerry #2 being cancelled more or less broke me as far as having any faith that we would seen the classics complete in full restoration. T&J wasn't a huge loss itself because it at least exists with the full library, uncut, in good quality prints (in general). Nothing like dealing with unrestored and rare cartoons elsewhere than never even made it no home video.

But still, it struck me as a return to the "cartoon ghetto" mentality in how it has been treated lately. I had some hope for the WAC but Porky 101, despite being uncut, did still felt like a lesser offering in quality compared to how the WAC usually treated its releases.

At this point, I honestly though the Famous Popeyes would never be released or if they were, would just shovel out the TV prints.

Going back to a-la-Mode, I mention it because it is among the most racially insensitive cartoons in the WB library, and that was sort of a kiss of death to any complete cartoons sets. I personally want them to be released for completionist sake and as evidence of their existence within the cartoon library (in this case Popeye) as an unfortunate and shameful-in-hindsight product of their time. So it THIS can be released on blu in 2018, what's holding up Tome & Jerry Vol. 2 which has content comparatively tamer?

The only downside is that this is something like 1/7 of the unreleased Famous shorts and the post 1949 ones are definitely a sharp decline in entertainment quality and overall production values. At some point, it would be wise to try and release the latter ones in a larger set.

Popeye Ala Mode was in the Cartoon Network library, but I don't think they ever aired it. I suspect that this set isn't getting a lot of scrutiny by Warner legal. It's entirely possible that after this is released, some news service will pick up the story about racist cartoons being released by Warner Bros and poison the well again. We'll see. I doubt we'll see more than one or two more Popeye collections after this anyway. The cartoons gradually become unfunny and weirdly violent and then fall off a cliff quality wise in the early 50s. It would be nice to get all the Tyer and Tytla ones though. That would go through around 1950. That would be a little more than two more sets.

Popeye Ala Mode was in the Cartoon Network library, but I don't think they ever aired it. I suspect that this set isn't getting a lot of scrutiny by Warner legal. It's entirely possible that after this is released, some news service will pick up the story about racist cartoons being released by Warner Bros and poison the well again. We'll see. I doubt we'll see more than one or two more Popeye collections after this anyway. The cartoons gradually become unfunny and weirdly violent and then fall off a cliff quality wise in the early 50s. It would be nice to get all the Tyer and Tytla ones though. That would go through around 1950. That would be a little more than two more sets.

I don't know. Can't we at least let this one set come out before we start projecting doom and gloom over things that haven't even happened yet?

Have you seen Popeye Ala Mode? It's a public domain cartoon and I would post a link to it here, but it would certainly be deleted as fast as I posted it. You can google it. It's probably the ugliest cartoon in the whole Popeye library. At least You're A Sap Mr Jap had the excuse of being wartime propaganda. It's pretty well animated, but that is just about all it has going for it.

I think this whole push for chronological cartoons is counter productive. This one cartoon could quite possibly sink the hopes of releasing any more of the Famous library. It's a fuse just waiting for a match.

Steve, do you have some kind of vendetta against this set, or the people behind it or promoting it? It sure comes across that way, since every single post you've done on it here and on every other home video enthusiast forum has been without variable negative. Why? I don't even get it.

You're like the lone voice of negativity about this release. I'm genuinely bewildered. Is a properly restored collection of cartoons not something to be positive about?

I'm not going to be surprised if it adds another nail to the coffin of Warner releasing cartoons on blu-ray.

I doubt it. These kinds of issues were more controversial in the WHV days, but Warner Archive has been presented as a different animal. For example the upcoming Jonny Quest Blu-ray will reportedly have complete dialog intact, which was not the case with the DVD set from WHV which deleted non-PC dialog. If Tom and Jerry were not such a cash cow, Volume 2 might have wound up in WA as well. Come to think of it, if anything it probably hurts the likes of Popeye to not have a strong tentpole franchise like Tom and Jerry in the same program to support classic cartoon sales.

Anyway, based on what's been said it should be clear the far bigger issue is whether the people who should be buying Popeye actually do.

The one thing in Porky 101's favor was including reams of cannibal, pygmy, blackface, 'Injun', etc. cartoons, many of them just as bad as the single offending Popeye title, for the sake of completion. This isn't unprecedented. The earlier mass-market Popeye collections also had some dated depictions of Native Americans and the Japanese. So kindly can the fake indignation or whatever it is you're selling.

Curated selections are one thing. If you're selling an adult chronological year-by-year collection, include it all.

It would be nice to see the Popeye features, beautifully restored from ten years ago and no doubt already in HD, included as extras in the future should all go well here of course. They really shouldn't be relegated to 480p.

Nope. I'm happy to get Famous Popeyes on blu-ray. (And the Fleischers too.) I preordered on the first day, and I've told all the artists I'm mentoring about it. I just don't think it's worth risking the future of the whole series on one pretty lousy cartoon. I've seen how the news grabs onto things like this and I understand exactly why they do it. Cartoons are perceived as being for children. A cartoon like this is viewed by a lot of people as not even being fit for adults. Put the two together and you have a story you can run with.

There really is no way to defend this specific cartoon. It hits all the marks for the most troubling kind of racism. And it isn't just one isolated gag, it's the whole cartoon. If the Warner home video cartoon business was strong and hadn't buckled over this kind of thing in the past, I'd say great, go ahead and tough it out. But I can see the whole thing being played out again just like when they put Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips on one of the VHS collections. The whole cartoon restoration and releasing program ground to a halt because of the bad press. The fans will blame Warner Bros again. Warner Bros will decide that it isn't worth restoring cartoons again, and we'll be even worse off than before.

I really don't care for myself. It isn't a big deal for die hard cartoon collectors. We know how to parse it. I have a pretty good copy of this cartoon somewhere around here. You probably have one too. Uber-fans like us will buy it because it's old cartoons in HD. Normal people will buy it because they searched for "Popeye" at Amazon and up it came. You don't have to worry about me messing up the chances for this set. The people you should worry about are the normal people who buy a cartoon collection for their kids and get blindsided by one of the most extreme cannibal cartoons ever made. All it takes is one mom to send an angry email to Huffington Post and it's all over. Tuck away my prediction and see what happens in the next year. I hope I'm wrong on this.

Traveling Matt, you are right. The Popeye specials would be a no brainer for blu-ray release. They would sell a boat load of that.

Out of curiosity I Googled “Popeye à la Mode”, and I guess I can see what you are talking about. I would be absolutely horrified I suppose if the cartoon was produced in 2018, but it was produced in 1940!

The very first thing I want to know about anything I watch is the year it was made. This is true for a silent movie, or an episode of “Seinfeld” I stumble on when I am flipping through the channels. This is because you have to suspend yourself in the time period of the film, not just let it flow over you. That doesn’t mean I condone the racial attitudes displayed here, but that I am not shocked because again, it’s 1940!

You have to know many things to understand the humour in these classic cartoons. Notice for instance that when the cannibals are about to eat Popeye they first present their World War II meat ration coupons. This is incomprehensible without some background. I often find the songs played in the background also add humour that go right over the heads of viewers not in the know.

Finally, it’s illustrative to see how attitudes develop over time. Viewed today some of Mae West’s movies seem racist in the extreme with her Mammy-like Bula maid. In the early 1930s she was considered a complete liberal who insisted on putting black people in her movies and featured black jazz bands etc.

Guys, my fault and my apologies as I just caught wind of this tonight and been taking care of some other things as well, but thank you for pointing me in the right direction and again, my apologies for double-posting about this, but I meant well.

Christmas Miracle , Drooling at the prospect, that more will follow, Famous Studios output , would be nice to see the Fleischer's get the same treatment, if WAC want to really up the prospects how about this gem?

Here we go again. To all of you who wish and hope the vaults of Warner Bros. could reopen to allow more of the classic cartoon treasures to emerge – Now is your time. Here’s what you can do to help (Take Two).

Last year I used whatever super powers I had to make a set of black and white Porky Pig cartoons available in an effort to convince to the studio there was an audience out there for such compilations. After several bumps in the road the set eventually broke even. But “brake even” isn’t good enough for a mega corporation. Long story short – we have one more shot. One. This is it. Perhaps a set of color cartoons, films the collectors do not have, or never had on home video (no VHS, no previous DVD or cable broadcast). A small set – 14 cartoons perhaps.

Here it is – a continuation of the Paramount Popeye cartoons. The next 14. No frills, no bonus materials, no audio commentaries. Transferred from the original Technicolor negatives. Jim Tyer animation. Politically incorrect shorts, uncut. The set will be available, separately, on both DVD and blu-ray.

The website to pre-order is supposedly going up today and we will update this post with the link when we get it. I highly recommend this set – I think you will be pleased. The frame grabs below were snapped off my living room flat screen by my iPhone, off the blu-ray. If this looks good to you – I ask that you pre-order, or order it in December. Let’s prove to Warner Bros. that we want further volumes of Popeye 1940s and 1950s – and we want more Warner and MGM cartoons restored and released. It’s seriously up to you.

if you are serious about animation then this needs to be supported, by sales

Totally behind this campaign and wanting this myself for Christmas, the DVD version, that is. Hoping everyone will go out and get this and state to WB we want more Popeye and to have this FINALLY completed after a long, long hiatus!!

Out of curiosity I Googled “Popeye à la Mode”, and I guess I can see what you are talking about. I would be absolutely horrified I suppose if the cartoon was produced in 2018, but it was produced in 1940!

All old films require a certain amount of historical context to appreciate. But that isn't what I'm talking about. The line I draw on this stuff is between racial and racist. And to me, the difference is when a race of people is depicted as subhuman, inhuman monsters or worthy of death. Cannibalism crosses that line and so does Birth of Nation. But no one is going to stumble across BoaN on a disk of kiddie cartoons. You know the context going in. The cartoons that include caricatures of contemporary black performers I have no problem with. I also have no problem with releasing Popeye Ala Mode in the proper context, but including it on a disc of innocuous cartoons jumbled in by release date makes it look like it's innocuous too. If they are going to release Angel Puss or Popeye Ala Mode or cannibal cartoons, they should either break them out behind a click and an explanatory video like Disney did on the Treasures series, or assemble them all on a single disc with some sort of liner notes or introductory video that explains the context. The problem here is that we're going to hit play all and after a couple of cartoons, Popeye Ala Mode is going to play with no context at all. And just writing "Warner Archive" on the top of the cover doesn't do that. A mom on Amazon is going to find it and not know what she is in for.

One other thing I have to say that I know isn't popular. The "censored 11" (which have grown to the censored couple of dozen) has acquired a "forbidden fruit" reputation among certain undiscerning vintage cartoon fans. They tend to think that if it has been withheld, it is somehow more important or better than other cartoons. That is the furthest thing from the truth. For every great cartoon like Coal Black or Tin Pan Alley Cats, there are a bunch of really lousy cartoons like Scrub Me Mama or Angel Puss. If you understand the context, you should be able to judge these by their merits honestly. Unfortunately, some of these cartoons carry so much baggage that honesty is impossible on both sides. Either the cartoon is written off as having no merits, even technical ones; or it's raised to legendary status purely because it is offensive. That is wrong and it's exactly the reason why context is necessary. Burying the apologies in title cards at the front with disingenuous disclaimers or in supplements no normal people ever get around to watching isn't good enough. These cartoons need to be curated properly. Put in an educational context, they might actually be valuable.

I don't know. Can't we at least let this one set come out before we start projecting doom and gloom over things that haven't even happened yet?

Ha, you should visit the Horror Of Dracula thread over at Blu-ray.com. It's total gloom & doom about the aspect ratio (1:66 rather than 1:85, not a huge difference) & the colour, although no one's seen a frame of it yet.

I remember seeing a lot of Popeye cartoons on TV in the UK in the late fifties/early sixties, of course all in b/w, it'll be odd seeing them in colour. If they look good, I'm in.

If the Warner home video cartoon business was strong and hadn't buckled over this kind of thing in the past, I'd say great, go ahead and tough it out. But I can see the whole thing being played out again just like when they put Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips on one of the VHS collections. The whole cartoon restoration and releasing program ground to a halt because of the bad press. The fans will blame Warner Bros again. Warner Bros will decide that it isn't worth restoring cartoons again, and we'll be even worse off than before.

Does anyone have an example more recent than 1993?

There's no shortage of examples where a corporation decided to censor or omit cartoons to preempt potential backlash, but I can't recall any recent example where public outcry over offensive backcatalog material forced the recall of physical media or caused reputational damage to the company releasing. Am I forgetting something?

I would be amazed if 70 – 80 year old cartoons can still provoke any serious amount of upset or outrage. Yes they were wrong at times, but that's history. There is no reason in this day and age to pretend that it's impossible to release them to an adult collector audience. If they have to be placed in a separate menu of the disc behind warnings and disclaimers, so be it. I believe that would eliminate the vast majority of possible complaints.

That Bugs Nips the Nips situation was an example where the cartoon had been on laserdisc for 2 years at that point, apparently without issue. I don't know how comparable the laserdisc market at that point was, but I would expect the same would be true for blurays today; it's a collector's format. Moms on Amazon will go for the budget Popeye dvds, if at all.

I'm not really worried about cancellation, mainly because this is the Warner Archive, and I watched a lot and they tend to go out of their way to be as complete as possible and include some material that is outright racist. A decent chunk of their content is extremely obscure material, and its goal seems more about curator/archivist appeal than mass market (save for some ot the TV releases). We're getting close to the 10 year anniversary to the Warner Archive, and I sincerely doubt anything will change now. The fact that the WAC is an online-only venue seems to make a big difference.

The fact that we get to see a fully manufactured disc as promotion also helps, because T&J #2 didn't even make it that far.

So far I consider this the first real effort on the WAC's part in terms of classic cartoons, and I'm interested to see if this release starts some real traction for other theatrical cartoon material long overdue.

There's no shortage of examples where a corporation decided to censor or omit cartoons to preempt potential backlash, but I can't recall any recent example where public outcry over offensive backcatalog material forced the recall of physical media or caused reputational damage to the company releasing. Am I forgetting something?

I would be amazed if 70 – 80 year old cartoons can still provoke any serious amount of upset or outrage. Yes they were wrong at times, but that's history. There is no reason in this day and age to pretend that it's impossible to release them to an adult collector audience. If they have to be placed in a separate menu of the disc behind warnings and disclaimers, so be it. I believe that would eliminate the vast majority of possible complaints.

That Bugs Nips the Nips situation was an example where the cartoon had been on laserdisc for 2 years at that point, apparently without issue. I don't know how comparable the laserdisc market at that point was, but I would expect the same would be true for blurays today; it's a collector's format. Moms on Amazon will go for the budget Popeye dvds, if at all.

It's not even worth your time. That post is what you'd find if you looked up "concern trolling" in the dictionary.

These sets should look awesome. WAC's standards for Blu-Ray's are notoriously stringent, and they've turned down films that they can't get to look presentable at an affordable price (see The Brothers Grimm).

And after seeing the absolute horrors Disney unleashed on their Mickey Mouse shorts to make them not look like the old films they are, I'd prefer as little digital tinkering as possible.

The amount of effort put into trolling of any kind never fails to amaze me. But then the devil makes work for idle hands. And empty lives.

To some people everything old is public domain. Too often, folk declare themselves experts but then do nothing but posit their opinions as facts. "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure…"

I don't see the announcement of this set as anything other than great news and can't wait to get it. Thank you, Warner Archive!

Man, I hear what Jerry is saying, but I don't know what else I can do. I buy all this animation stuff religiously, but physical disc sales do nothing but decline and the community of classic animation fans is apparently quite small. I guess I could buy two copies, but I see little I can do to get other people to value and buy this classic material when they are A) cheap, and B) satisfied with the kind of abject garbage that gets broadcast nowadays, animated or otherwise.

…

Sorry to be a downer, I do hope this sells well and there are more to come. I grew up on these color Popeye cartoons from Famous Studios and would love to see them all released. But ultimately if Warner Archive can't make it work then I wish they would at least try to license this kind of stuff out to independent shops like Criterion and Olive, who do seem to still be able to make physical media work.

Each set of the Golden and Platinum collections sold fewer than the previous one, so it's no surprise that WB stopped releasing new Looney Tunes. I've worked for three large corporations and I know that everything has to have a return on investment. So if people aren't buying and they can't make a lot of money licensing restored cartoons that they wouldn't have made licensing unrestored cartoons, it's no surprise that they've stopped. Having said that, I don't think those sets, especially the later sets, were marketed well.

On the other hand, there are so many releases of garbage that I see that I think, "who approved the release of this and how do they think it's going to be profitable?" If they can release that other junk, they can release these classic works.

I think one of the problems with these classic cartoons is that while there's a desirable nostalgia factor, these were also cartoons that Baby Boomers watched on TV for free and even beautifully restored, there's the perception that they're not worth much. And for most people (obviously not the completists), one boxed set of 60 cartoons was more than enough. And kids today don't necessarily relate: my grandkids don't want to watch either the Warner nor the Jay Ward cartoons. I guess these cartoons don't look like much to them compared to today's computer animation.

My concern now is the decline of physical media in general and the acquisition of Warner by AT&T. It usually takes an acquirer a year or more to get heavily involved in the details of a business and I have to wonder whether AT&T cares about physical media at all. I believe they bought Warner to provide content for streaming services, but how much they're willing to invest in restoration is a big open question.

As for the video physical media market, it was an $11 billion market in North America in 2009 and it will probably come in at about $3.75 billion this year. It was $4.7 billion last year. I'm a fan of physical media, but I'm also a realist and I have to admit that it's pretty much over for physical media. It's becoming a smaller and smaller niche every year. And I've evolved (or devolved) to a state where unless it's very inexpensive, I only buy physical video if I think I'm going to watch it more than once or twice.

Edit: Recorded music is in no better shape. For the first six months of 2018 in North America, physical media was only 10.3% of industry revenue. Streaming was 77.1% and downloads was 12.6%.

I think one of the problems with these classic cartoons is that while there's a desirable nostalgia factor, these were also cartoons that Baby Boomers watched on TV for free and even beautifully restored, there's the perception that they're not worth much. And for most people (obviously not the completists), one boxed set of 60 cartoons was more than enough. And kids today don't necessarily relate: my grandkids don't want to watch either the Warner nor the Jay Ward cartoons. I guess these cartoons don't look like much to them compared to today's computer animation.

There is quite a lot of nostalgia factor with these older cartoons. I'd guess even more than with older movies. My grandkids will watch the Warner cartoons, they've not yet seen any Jay Ward ones, but it's not something they'll ask for. If they come in and that's what I'm watching they'll stick around and watch with me. In contrast, they *will* ask to watch Three Stooges or Little Rascals two reelers.

It goes beyond the look, which IMHO is far superior to what's offered today. Many seem to prefer the insult laden, mean spirited, cartoons of today over the classics. Mine *do* like The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, and others and ask for them regularly but they also like some truly stupid and/or mean spirited modern cartoons. Many modern ones are so bad that Grandma has banned them in our house. If she catches them watching one of those she turns off the set and puts them to work.

I'd much rather them watch the old stuff, warts and all, as it's easy to explain why one might be bad and use it as a history lesson.

And… they also like Popeye. My oldest grandson (15yo) will ask to watch those on occasion. This set has the ones I've been wanting most. I have the earlier sets but they didn't see as much air play when I was a kid as did the ones from this set and later years.

Man, I hear what Jerry is saying, but I don't know what else I can do. I buy all this animation stuff religiously, but physical disc sales do nothing but decline and the community of classic animation fans is apparently quite small. I guess I could buy two copies, but I see little I can do to get other people to value and buy this classic material when they are A) cheap, and B) satisfied with the kind of abject garbage that gets broadcast nowadays, animated or otherwise.

Whether you like animation or not I think DVDs and Blu-rays have always been the best value in entertainment pretty much ever, and continue to provide the purchaser some autonomy over their content instead of laying back fat and happy on the couch to be spoon fed whatever crap the streaming services decide you can or can't see this month. It's to be expected I guess, but it's to all of our detriment as disc sales lose momentum and critical mass in the market because of this complacency. But I digress.

Also, for those of us who do buy a LOT of animation these sort of back channel warnings from those "in the know" sound awfully accusatory sometimes. WTH else was I supposed to do? I probably bought almost every classic animated DVD release WB ever put out, many of them quite flawed. I get rewarded with abandoned incomplete series and fairly obvious stuff that never gets released at all. I know, I know, I'm not the target and there is an effort to goose sales however they can, it's important, but it's just a perennial thing with classic animation and I get tired of hearing it.

Sorry to be a downer, I do hope this sells well and there are more to come. I grew up on these color Popeye cartoons from Famous Studios and would love to see them all released. But ultimately if Warner Archive can't make it work then I wish they would at least try to license this kind of stuff out to independent shops like Criterion and Olive, who do seem to still be able to make physical media work.

… he's probably talking to people like me more than people like you. I buy quite a lot of vintage animation, but back during the times when they were doing the Golden Collections, and the previous Popeye dvds, I didn't exactly rush out and buy them. They went on the wishlist and I played the waiting game. Many of them I ended up picking up on the cheap, sometimes a few years after release. Lucky I didn't wait too long, some of the previous Popeye volumes are sold out and expensive.

Anyway, I get the message loud and clear. An early purchase is a vote for future releases. The first month of sales will be a deciding factor as to whether they continue full steam ahead, or put things on hold to see if they have a reasonable chance of breaking even.

What else can we do? It never hurts to talk about an upcoming release on forums and social media. I know that online buzz has influenced some of my purchases. Anyone who feels compelled to buy a second copy might consider gifting it to some of their more casually interested friends over Christmas. That's about the extent of what a single consumer can do, but hopefully the market isn't quite that bad for the time being. Hopefully just getting those pre-orders in early will be enough to satisfy WB at this point.

Each of the 14 cartoons has been meticulously restored from the original 35mm nitrate Technicolor negatives, which have been scanned at 4K as part of Warner Bros. ongoing film preservation efforts. From these new recombined scans, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging department has created new masters under the direction of Warner Archive Collection for this Blu-ray and DVD release.

Note that they're unequivocally using the "R" word in the press release. I think there was some doubt about that since the very first official post made it a point to not refer the cartoons as restored.

As part of Warner Bros. decades-long corporate film preservation program, the restoration process on these Popeye cartoons has been meticulous in its mission to address any and all film damage while preserving the original animated frame. Dirt, debris and any film damage has been repaired from the original sources, most of which have not been touched in over 70 years. Warner Archive Collection has ensured great care was taken to keep the animation authentic to its original look as first presented on movie theater screens in the 1940s.

Again, they seem to have gone out for this set. Certainly a complete 180 from Porky 101.

The entire Popeye library is currently undergoing this process.

This set has GOT to sell so we can encourage them to see this process through to the end. This sounds like the Fleischer cartoons are on the table if this sells enough.

Note that they're unequivocally using the "R" word in the press release. I think there was some doubt about that since the very first official post made it a point to not refer the cartoons as restored.

Again, they seem to have gone out for this set. Certainly a complete 180 from Porky 101.

This set has GOT to sell so we can encourage them to see this process through to the end. This sounds like the Fleischer cartoons are on the table if this sells enough.

I don't want to underestimate the importance of supporting this initial release, but the fact the entire library is undergoing this extensive restoration should certainly make future volumes more likely than otherwise now.

I'm also pleased to learn my initial comment in this thread – that the full catalog should be restored regardless of release plans – is now irrelevant. I hope the same approach is or will be taken for the Looney Tunes.

Note that they're unequivocally using the "R" word in the press release. I think there was some doubt about that since the very first official post made it a point to not refer the cartoons as restored.

Again, they seem to have gone out for this set. Certainly a complete 180 from Porky 101.

This set has GOT to sell so we can encourage them to see this process through to the end. This sounds like the Fleischer cartoons are on the table if this sells enough.

The entire Popeye library is currently undergoing this process.

Wonderful news, the initial post had mentioned 4k scans from seperation negatives, so I'd been expecting the colour to look good, but we didn't know they'd committed to doing the entire Popeye library. That's very reassuring.

An unrelated question: does anyone know much of the Famous cartoon library is with WB, … obviously they have Popeye and Superman, but who owns the rest? How did they end up at WB in the first place?

Paramount sold the black and white Popeye cartoons to a.a.p. (Associated Artists Productions) in 1956 and the color cartoons in 1957. United Artists purchased a.a.p. in 1958. In 1981 UA merged with MGM an in 1986 Ted Turner purchased MGM/UA. When Turner shortly sold MGM he retained the film library including all the cartoons to assist the start up of the Cartoon Network. As we know WB purchased Turner and that’s how the WB has Popeye.

Best Buy has it available for pre-order, $17.99. With free day-of-release delivery and taxes, it came in a full $10 cheaper than WBShop. It's too bad WB doesn't want to offer any kind of incentive to buy through the site. Or seem interested in advertising it beyond the same "buy it or else" pitch that's become WB's m.o. for the last decade.

Each set of the Golden and Platinum collections sold fewer than the previous one, so it's no surprise that WB stopped releasing new Looney Tunes. I've worked for three large corporations and I know that everything has to have a return on investment. So if people aren't buying and they can't make a lot of money licensing restored cartoons that they wouldn't have made licensing unrestored cartoons, it's no surprise that they've stopped. Having said that, I don't think those sets, especially the later sets, were marketed well.

On the other hand, there are so many releases of garbage that I see that I think, "who approved the release of this and how do they think it's going to be profitable?" If they can release that other junk, they can release these classic works.

I think one of the problems with these classic cartoons is that while there's a desirable nostalgia factor, these were also cartoons that Baby Boomers watched on TV for free and even beautifully restored, there's the perception that they're not worth much. And for most people (obviously not the completists), one boxed set of 60 cartoons was more than enough. And kids today don't necessarily relate: my grandkids don't want to watch either the Warner nor the Jay Ward cartoons. I guess these cartoons don't look like much to them compared to today's computer animation.

My concern now is the decline of physical media in general and the acquisition of Warner by AT&T. It usually takes an acquirer a year or more to get heavily involved in the details of a business and I have to wonder whether AT&T cares about physical media at all. I believe they bought Warner to provide content for streaming services, but how much they're willing to invest in restoration is a big open question.

As for the video physical media market, it was an $11 billion market in North America in 2009 and it will probably come in at about $3.75 billion this year. It was $4.7 billion last year. I'm a fan of physical media, but I'm also a realist and I have to admit that it's pretty much over for physical media. It's becoming a smaller and smaller niche every year. And I've evolved (or devolved) to a state where unless it's very inexpensive, I only buy physical video if I think I'm going to watch it more than once or twice.

Edit: Recorded music is in no better shape. For the first six months of 2018 in North America, physical media was only 10.3% of industry revenue. Streaming was 77.1% and downloads was 12.6%.

I know what your saying, sales of discs are in decline but they are in the Multi Billions of dollars a year. I'm not a negative Nancy! That's a lot of sell thru and doesnt include EST sales which are also in the billions. Laser disc survived for years with sales in the millions. Collectors purchased and supported that format. Any business catagory that sells in the billions is hardly pocket lint in the corporate pockets. The release of this set is positive news.

Is WAC not sending out review copies? Notably, our own Robert Harris has done reviews of all of WAC's upcoming releases EXCEPT specifically this one.

Mr. Harris sometimes waits a while before publishing a review, and I do not recall him ever reviewing a set of cartoon shorts. I wouldn't read anything into this. In terms of technical quality, I am sure that this will be of high quality. Whether you like Popeye or not is a different matter.

Again, listen to the Warner Archive podcast's latest episode for details. It includes an interview with animation historian Jerry Beck, and yes, they did go back to the SE negatives and digitally recombine for best results. Looking forward to it.

I got mine Monday morning ! It looks Fantastic ! I hope they release the rest from the 1940's,and restore the Superman cartoons, so they look like this Quality. I have the WB Superman dvd 2 disc set. Needs much cleaning up. Great cartoons.

I'm definitely buying this set, but it can wait 'till mid-January when the dust has settled & the supply problems are over. I used to see a lot of these on TV way back in the late fifties (in b/w). The only one I can remember is the at the island of the goons, I don't know how old that one is. When I'm watching a Blu-ray feature, I'll start off with a Popeye cartoon.

I'm definitely buying this set, but it can wait 'till mid-January when the dust has settled & the supply problems are over. I used to see a lot of these on TV way back in the late fifties (in b/w). The only one I can remember is the at the island of the goons, I don't know how old that one is. When I'm watching a Blu-ray feature, I'll start off with a Popeye cartoon.

GOONLAND is one of the Fleischer cartoons, already available in the second volume of the DVD sets.

Paramount sold the black and white Popeye cartoons to a.a.p. (Associated Artists Productions) in 1956 and the color cartoons in 1957. United Artists purchased a.a.p. in 1958. In 1981 UA merged with MGM an in 1986 Ted Turner purchased MGM/UA. When Turner shortly sold MGM he retained the film library including all the cartoons to assist the start up of the Cartoon Network. As we know WB purchased Turner and that’s how the WB has Popeye.

I’m very happy Warner’s has control of Popeye, for they seem to be lovingly taking care of him.

Well, apparently not full control: I saw the fine print and found a 2018 copyright notice for "King Features Syndicate, Inc., Turner Entertainment Co., and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc." That seemed very curious to me but I looked at the first volume of the black and white Fleischer Popeye cartoons and the same wording is on there too. Since King Features is named first, does that imply they have the biggest say in what is done with the library, or am I reading too much into that?

I don't think you're reading too much into it. I recall the old press releases for the DVDs included language stating, or at least indicating, King Features was working with WHV/WB to handle the library properly from start to finish. The sense was they were going straight thru with full restorations, which is presumably why the recent news confirming this is likely related.

If correct, it raises the question as to why an outside agreement gets this moving for Popeye but no one is at the switch on Looney Tunes.

I don't think you're reading too much into it. I recall the old press releases for the DVDs included language stating, or at least indicating, King Features was working with WHV/WB to handle the library properly from start to finish. The sense was they were going straight thru with full restorations, which is presumably why the recent news confirming this is likely related.

If correct, it raises the question as to why an outside agreement gets this moving for Popeye but no one is at the switch on Looney Tunes.

Well, I guess it's different for the Warner Bros. cartoons since Warner owns those films and the characters outright, while with Popeye they have to play ball with King Features, to the point of having company staffers interviewed for the extras on past sets, etc. (In other words, it seems the agreement requires them to be released.) From what I recall of those early press releases, the deal with King Features also included a license for the made for TV King Features Popeye cartoons. Indeed, Warner Archive released a "Volume 1" (but nothing further) from the 1960 series, and WHV put out a single disc (but nothing further) from the 1978 series.

I got the set too. One consistent thing I've noticed is that while the restored cartoons on the Looney Tunes Golden Collections and the Fleischer two-reelers have almost psychedelic, Day-Glo colors, the colors on the Popeye cartoons are more subdued. The Sindbad clip in Spnach Packin' Popeye looks more like the Library of Congress' 35mm print while the 2007 restoration of the entire Sinbad feature looks more like this cel.

I'm in no position to guess which is more accurate, and fully admit ignorance. But if the authorities can't find fault with the colors, that's good enough for me.

We also had colour sets available at around the same time but who could afford them. I remember shopping for a new tv with my parents around 1967. The black and white 21” Sylvania was about $170. The colour set was $500.

I remember walking down town with my friends to my cousins house to see Star Trek at his house in color in its final season. He didn’t like Science Fiction and had never seen the show. Of course the episode was one of the stupidest ones. — I forget which episode, but it involved a “United Nations” type meeting on the ship with a bunch of different aliens.

My copy arrived a few days ago and I've now watched them all. Great memories all around, except now with restored picture, color and sound, and the always missing original titles. Overall the set looks great. The colors are maybe not as saturated as one might expect, and I saw a comparison with a different 35mm transfer that was a tad more vivid, but overall I don't see any real issue. They look very very good.

As to the fate of the Paramount library, someone mentioned that Universal owns the rest of it via Dreamworks, and this is true through a series of acquisitions in recent years. But originally Famous/Paramount had a second series (or several I guess) of loosely related character and one-off cartoons under the banner of the Noveltoons. Some of the earliest of these are now public domain, but most of the rest of the Famous cartoons from the early 50s to the early 60s were sold to Harvey comics and became known as the Harveytoons. There was a DVD release of these some years ago in an edited and compiled half-hour television show format (The Harveytoons Show). These cartoons featured characters like Casper the friendly ghost, Wendy the good little witch, Herman and Katnip (the true inspiration for Itchy and Scratchy), Baby Huey and Little Audrey as well as one-offs known as Modern Madcaps. Harvey also acquired a few of the late Famous Studios Screen Songs. All of this eventually found its way to Classic Media which was bought by Dreamworks which was bought by NBC/Universal.

Although I can't say they were all broadcast in the same half-hour package, I saw all of these along with older Paramounts like Little Lulu and Screen Songs as well as AAP color Popeyes all together on weekday afternoon broadcast TV back in the early-mid 80s. Generally the older Fleischer cartoons were not seen until later Turner broadcasts. These Famous cartoons were usually also mingled or alongside of a package of color Terrytoons (everything from Mighty Mouse to Luno the Wonder Horse). They're not all the greatest theatrical cartoons, but I grew up with them and would enjoy having proper releases of any and all of them. But for now I'm content to look forward to more Famous Popeye cartoons.

My copy arrived a few days ago and I've now watched them all. Great memories all around, except now with restored picture, color and sound, and the always missing original titles. Overall the set looks great. The colors are maybe not as saturated as one might expect, and I saw a comparison with a different 35mm transfer that was a tad more vivid, but overall I don't see any real issue. They look very very good.

As to the fate of the Paramount library, someone mentioned that Universal owns the rest of it via Dreamworks, and this is true through a series of acquisitions in recent years. But originally Famous/Paramount had a second series (or several I guess) of loosely related character and one-off cartoons under the banner of the Noveltoons. Some of the earliest of these are now public domain, but most of the rest of the Famous cartoons from the early 50s to the early 60s were sold to Harvey comics and became known as the Harveytoons. There was a DVD release of these some years ago in an edited and compiled half-hour television show format (The Harveytoons Show). These cartoons featured characters like Casper the friendly ghost, Wendy the good little witch, Herman and Katnip (the true inspiration for Itchy and Scratchy), Baby Huey and Little Audrey as well as one-offs known as Modern Madcaps. Harvey also acquired a few of the late Famous Studios Screen Songs. All of this eventually found its way to Classic Media which was bought by Dreamworks which was bought by NBC/Universal.

Although I can't say they were all broadcast in the same half-hour package, I saw all of these along with older Paramounts like Little Lulu and Screen Songs as well as AAP color Popeyes all together on weekday afternoon broadcast TV back in the early-mid 80s. Generally the older Fleischer cartoons were not seen until later Turner broadcasts. These Famous cartoons were usually also mingled or alongside of a package of color Terrytoons (everything from Mighty Mouse to Luno the Wonder Horse). They're not all the greatest theatrical cartoons, but I grew up with them and would enjoy having proper releases of any and all of them. But for now I'm content to look forward to more Famous Popeye cartoons.

Only the 1962-67 Paramount Cartoons library (which began with "Penny Pals" and ended with "Mouse Trek") was owned by Paramount lock, stock and barrel, with the exception of the Comic Kings series (which, like Popeye, is owned by King Features Syndicate), and "Frog's Legs" which is owned by Marjorie Buell (the creator of Little Lulu).

Only the 1962-67 Paramount Cartoons library (which began with "Penny Pals" and ended with "Mouse Trek") was owned by Paramount lock, stock and barrel, with the exception of the Comic Kings series (which, like Popeye, is owned by King Features Syndicate), and "Frog's Legs" which is owned by Marjorie Buell (the creator of Little Lulu).

~Ben

They also own the non-Popeye, non-Superman Fleischer and Famous library through 1950 via Republic.

God, I would love to see proper treatment of those. They have been dealt an even rawer deal than the Popeyes, which is really saying something.

Probably the most valuable or at least recognizable part of the Republic portion of the library is Betty Boop. A lot of the later ones have been considered public domain, but thankfully the earlier/better Betty Boops were licensed and released on blu-ray by Olive a few years ago. I remember Jerry Beck seemed to have a bee in his bonnet about this set of Betty Boop releases because he wasn't involved. I wouldn't claim it was perfect, and no doubt he could have contributed in valuable ways, but overall I think those releases look beautiful and were well done, and I'm super happy to have them.

The rest of that library is what? Older Screen Songs, Talkartoons, Little Lulu and maybe some Color Classics? The Color Classics especially need some TLC. They featured the same quality of animation and gags as Fleischer's other series, include their 3D background/scenery process, but in gorgeous Technicolor, with imaginative artwork and stories, but usually don't feature recognizable characters. Most people at least probably remember "Somewhere in Dreamland" as well as Grampy in "Christmas Comes But Once A Year". These cartoons have been PD tape fodder for years. Jerry Beck's Somewhere in Dreamland DVD some years ago tried to collect them and do them some justice, but even after a revised edition they were far from restored. Would be wonderful if Olive could release these using the original elements, even though there seems little financial incentive to do so.

According to another thread, Kino has a deal with Republic, and they'd be a good fit. They do really well with cartoons, since they're almost done with the United Artists/DePatie Freleng library of cartoons. They've put out not only The Pink Panther, but also really obscure, unknown series like Hoot Kloot, The Dogfather, and Misterjaw..

BTW, if you missed out on the now-OOP second and third Popeye DVD volumes, they're being reissued on January 18.

Love seeing these cartoons with the original titles and the care and love that was put in them for this superb presentation. When Warners put out the black and white earlier Popeyes I was a bit worried that perhaps they were a bit late since I hadn't seen these cartoons in years. I think Popeye was not known or beloved the same way the Warner and MGM cartoons were since the latter cartoons seemed to be everywhere.

I tend to agree that the early Fleischer Popeyes were the very best. When I was a kid and they were only shown in black and white, the joke was that Popeye went downhill when the dialogue was synced to his mouth. What we meant was that there was little of the mumbles, wisecracks and Fields-isms in the later cartoons and that, to us were the best parts. But it is wonderful hearing the music scores so clearly and the colors so rich.

My only quibble is on one cartoon in this package. The soundtrack for The Anvil Chorus Girl is terribly distorted through out. It doesn't seem to be a mastering problem, but whatever source (sound nitrate element?) was deteriorated badly. I am sure they were aware of it and I wonder if a soundtrack for that cartoon could have been retrieved from another source.

Buy saying that, I am more than pleased with this volume. Hope more to come and someday the Superman cartoons get the same treatment.

in the same boat myself, i am waiting on the 1940's Vol 2, i already have everthing WB has released…….. the first time around, now if they felt the nessesaty to go back and do the original Fleisher Cartoons and the B/W Famous toons from vol 3 on blu then i would bite, hope to here an anouncement for the next blu release

in the same boat myself, i am waiting on the 1940's Vol 2, i already have everthing WB has released…….. the first time around, now if they felt the nessesaty to go back and do the original Fleisher Cartoons and the B/W Famous toons from vol 3 on blu then i would bite, hope to here an anouncement for the next blu release

Volumes 2 and 3 (if you do not have the original issues already) will be re-released this February… pre-order both at WBShop.com

It looks like production on Volume 2 is well underway. In the latest podcast, George Feltenstein called Vol. 1 "the hit of the Christmas season" and Volume 2 will be releasing soon.

The artist who did the cover for the first volume is doing the cover for V2 as we speak, and Jerry Beck is helping the WAC look for original soundtracks for a couple of cartoons that apparently have missing track negatives.

It looks like production on Volume 2 is well underway. In the latest podcast, George Feltenstein called Vol. 1 "the hit of the Christmas season" and Volume 2 will be releasing soon.

The artist who did the cover for the first volume is doing the cover for V2 as we speak, and Jerry Beck is helping the WAC look for original soundtracks for a couple of cartoons that apparently have missing track negatives.

Great news!

To speak further of Popeye on DVD: the re-releases of the two once out-of-print black-and-white DVD sets (volume 2: 1938-40, and volume 3: 1941-43) are now available! Please try and buy them, and encourage your friends to do the same… we need to save cartoon-related DVDs from total obscurity!

It looks like production on Volume 2 is well underway. In the latest podcast, George Feltenstein called Vol. 1 "the hit of the Christmas season" and Volume 2 will be releasing soon.

The artist who did the cover for the first volume is doing the cover for V2 as we speak, and Jerry Beck is helping the WAC look for original soundtracks for a couple of cartoons that apparently have missing track negatives.

That is terrific news to hear and so happy this will be seeing the light of day sometime this year and yes, definitely buying it on DVD format.